Helping Churches Plant Churches

People often ask me “What does InterAct do in Russia?” The simplest answer I can give is that “We help churches plant churches.” In missiology this is called “facilitation.” In a facilitative ministry, the goal of the missionary is not to plant a church himself, but to support the native leadership in their efforts to plant churches. We do this in three ways: facilitating the ministry of the word, promoting good works, and developing local resources.

Facilitating the Ministry of the Word

Preaching and teaching God’s Word is of utmost importance. All other activities we do serve to promote this. We partner with local churches to promote the preaching of the Word throughout Russia. This is done through:

We long to see more local church leaders raised up and laypeople equipped to serve that more churches would be planted. In 2011 InterAct partnered with Churches in the Siberian Region of Tuva to have the complete Bible printed in the Tuvan language for the first time in history.

Promoting Good Works

Through good works the church shows love and mercy to its community, which will hopefully open up doors to share the good news of Jesus Christ. We serve with local churches to help promote good works in communities throughout Russia. This includes:

• Drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers
• Ministry to orphans
• Work with special needs children
• English-teaching
• Community development initiatives
• Counseling ministries

Our goal is to see every member of the Body utilizing their gifts to bring glory to God and promote the work of the Kingdom. InterAct recently helped facilitate the operations of a Christian drug and alcohol rehab center in the Siberian city of Kyzyl. Through these types of programs men have come to Christ.

Developing Resources

Many areas of Russia are financially impoverished. In some regions unemployment surpasses 80%. Often times churches struggle to find resources to carry out ministry. While InterAct has helped at times by providing relief we focus primarily on helping churches become self- sustaining. We work with local Christians to help develop revenue-generating small businesses that support the work of indigenous ministry. This is being done by:

• Small business training
• Biblical stewardship training
• Small loans to qualified Christian entrepreneurs to develop small businesses

Our goal is to see revenues fund the work of the gospel and help support other Christian business initiatives. InterAct has worked with local Christians over the last three years to start 9 small businesses. Some of these businesses have developed enough to begin providing modest financial support for local churches.